Review 25 March 2025
LatestSchool Report
Tēnā koutou e mau manawa rahi ki te kaupapa e aro ake nei, ko te tamaiti te pūtake o te kaupapa. Mā wai rā e kawe, mā tātau katoa.
We acknowledge the collective effort, responsibility and commitment by all to ensure that the child remains at the heart of the matter.
About the School
Waipara School provides education for learners in Years 1 to 8. The school’s roll is 44, with 25% of students are Māori. The school’s values of Manawanui |perseverance and resilience, Manaakitanga | kindness and support, Pono & Tika | honesty and integrity, and Whakaute | respect underpin the learning programme and operation. A new principal was appointed Term 1, 2023.
Part A – Parent Summary
How well placed is the school to promote educational success and wellbeing?
| How well are learners succeeding? | Success and progress for all learners is increasing. |
| What is the quality of teaching and learning? | Learners benefit from high quality teaching practice that improves progress and achievement in reading, writing and mathematics. |
| How well does the school curriculum respond to all learners needs? | Learners have rich opportunities to learn across the breadth and depth of the curriculum. There is an increasingly consistent focus on supporting learners to gain skills in literacy and mathematics. Learners with complex needs are well supported to achieve their education goals. |
| How well does school planning and conditions support ongoing improvement? | School planning and conditions to support ongoing improvement to the quality of education for learners are well established. |
| How well does the school include all learners and promote their engagement and wellbeing? | The school successfully promotes learners’ engagement, wellbeing and inclusion. |
| How well does the school partner with parents, whānau and its community for the benefit of learners? | The school reports usefully and accurately to parents / whānau about their child’s learning, achievement and progress. The school is improving its collection and use of information gathered through community consultation to inform strategic planning and curriculum decisions. |
| Student Health and Safety | The school board is taking reasonable steps to ensure student health and safety. |
Achievement in Years 0 to 8
This table outlines how well students across the school meet or exceed the expected curriculum level.
Foundation Skills | |
| Reading | Most learners meet or exceed the expected curriculum level. Results are equitable for all groups of learners. |
| Writing | Most learners meet or exceed the expected curriculum level. Results are becoming more equitable for all groups of learners. |
| Mathematics | A large majority of learners meet or exceed the expected curriculum level. Results are equitable for all groups of learners. |
Attendance
The school is approaching the target of 80% regular attendance over the year 2024.
The school is developing a suitable plan in place to improve attendance.
Regular attendance is improving towards or beyond the target.
Assessment
The school uses an appropriate approach and reliable practices to find out about achievement against the curriculum.
Assessment information is used well to adjust teaching practices to ensure ongoing improvement in teaching and student progress.
Progress
The school has good quality planning to increase the rate of progress for all groups of students.
The school has to some extent improved achievement and progress for those learners most at risk of not achieving since the previous review.
The school has to some extent extended achievement and progress for learners working at or above curriculum levels since the previous review.
The school is making progress towards Government reading, writing and mathematics and/or pānui, tuhituhi and pāngarau targets and is likely to meet them by 2030.
An explanation of the terms used in the Parent Summary can be found here: Guide to ERO school reports
Part B - Findings for the school
This section of the report provides more detail for the school to include in strategic and annual planning for ongoing improvement across the school.
Areas of Strength
- Students have a strong sense of wellbeing and belonging to the school and community; this strengthens their engagement in learning. Teachers actively pursue approaches that extend students enjoyment of learning.
- Students individualised programmes respond well to their learning needs and interests.
- Purposeful strategic planning by leaders, teachers and the board clearly focuses on improvement, sustainability and what is best for each child.
- A consistent focus on supporting all learners to gain sound foundation skills in literacy and mathematics is evident. Leaders and teachers have embedded structured literacy in teaching and learning programmes and are taking steps to plan implementation of structured mathematics in 2025.
- Learners experience a broad range of meaningful learning opportunities; this supports high levels of progress and achievement across the curriculum.
- Well-considered staff professional development is targeted, planned and purposefully implemented for ongoing improvement of teaching and learning.
- Achievement and wellbeing information is analysed and used well to inform teaching and learning; continuing to strengthen how well this information is used to monitor progress towards annual and strategic goals is a next step.
Key priorities and actions for improvement
The agreed next steps for the school are to:
- implement the changes to the national curriculum to support ongoing improvement in reading, writing and mathematics
- embed robust assessment practices to continue to inform teaching and learning, with a focus on improving boys’ achievement in writing
- collaborate with parents to support improvement in achievement and attendance.
The agreed actions for the next improvement cycle and timeframes are as follows.
Within six months:
- engage with parents and whānau to understand the barriers for regular attendance and collaborative develop a plan improve
- review the assessment schedule to identify what is working well and what needs to be improved.
Every six months:
- engage with parents and community on the effectiveness of curriculum initiatives and modify planning accordingly from their feedback and ideas
- review and report to the board on progress towards annual and strategic goals, prioritising the impact of initiatives on those students who need additional support, to inform next steps
- review the impact of initiatives to improve students’ regular attendance and identify where to next.
Annually:
- review and report to the board on student attendance, progress and achievement information to support ongoing strategic decision making for improvement
- evaluate the impact of teaching, assessment practices and curriculum content and how this has improved student outcomes and identify where to next for curriculum delivery.
Actions taken against these next steps are expected to result in:
- higher numbers of students at or above expected curriculum levels in reading, writing and mathematics
- parents actively involved in students learning progress and planning
- more students attending regularly.
Part C: Regulatory and Legislative Requirements
Board Assurance with Regulatory and Legislative Requirements
All schools are required to promote student health and safety and to regularly review their compliance with legal requirements.
During this review the Board has attested to some regulatory and legislative requirements in the following areas:
Board Administration
Yes
Curriculum
Yes
Management of Health, Safety and Welfare
Yes
Personnel Management
Yes
ERO’s role will be to support the school in its evaluation for improvement cycle to improve outcomes for all learners. The next public report on ERO’s website will be a School Evaluation Report and is due within three years.
Me mahi tahi tonu tātau, kia whai oranga a tātau tamariki
Let’s continue to work together for the greater good of all children
Sharon Kelly
Director of Schools (Acting)
25 March 2025
Education Counts
This website provides further information about the school’s student population, student engagement and student achievement. educationcounts.govt.nz/home